Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Altarose Rancho

We woke up at 6:00am yesterday and got ready to leave Sayulita. We had a coffee and wrote the blog post for yesterday, and we were on the road by 7:00am. Kind of surprised that there was still a fair bit of traffic at that hour on a Sunday morning, but I’m sure it was quieter then than it would have been later on.

We pulled in to the big Mega grocery store only 22 kms from where we started. This is now just past the town of Bucerias, and close to the outskirts of Puerto Vallarta. The parking lot at this huge grocery store was pretty much empty and we were surprised to find out that store actually opened at 7:00am. We had a quick breakfast and then went in to stock up on a few items.

As soon as we grabbed a cart, we were approached by a “time share” salesman. We have been looking forward to attending a couple of time share presentations, and seeing how much we could get out of them. Making a long story short, when we finished doing our grocery shopping we left Sherman in the parking lot and we were put in a taxi to a resort where we sat down for a delicious Sunday brunch. For free. Then, we sat through a few sales people trying to sell us something we weren’t at all interested in. I kind of enjoyed the banter back and forth, and before we knew it, two hours had passed. Then, they gave us 2,000 pesos ($156) in cash, and paid our taxi ride back to the Mega store. What a good deal. Hopefully we’ll get to do a couple more of these before we leave the area. We hear that Puerto Vallarta is full of time shares. We are very good at saying “no thanks”!

Then, we went back to our turn off inland, 2 kms north of the Mega store. Only 12 kms (7 miles) inland, there is a campground owned by a Canadian couple from Calgary. It is called Altarose Rancho RV Park. As we drove up to it, a pickup truck pulled up beside us and it was Gary, the owner. He was super friendly, and welcomed us to the Ranch. He opened the gate and pointed out the 15 full hookup sites, and said we could park wherever it suited us. One other spot is taken up by a long term guy, but we didn’t wan’t hookup’s…just somewhere to park where our solar panels would get some sun….he said, “park wherever you like!”. It’s actually a beautiful spot, but not many people come here because it’s not on the beach, even though it’s such a short distance from Puerto Vallarta.

Sherman, parked up at Rancho Altarose

We got parked up, and the chairs out and sat out with a cold drink because we had such a hard day at work today, and such a long drive. The two dogs who live here wasted no time in making new friends with us, and then Gary’s wife Jean came over and introduced herself and sat and we had a long chat for the rest of the afternoon. Turns out they don’t really treat the RV park as a business, they just like to have people come and stay and keep them company for a bit. The little bit of income is a bonus for them.

Visiting with Jean and our new friends Reno and Missy.

So far, this seems like another spot we could easily stay for a week or more. We’re running out of time, but we do have some people to visit in Puerto Vallarta and there is a lot of hiking to do in the nearby hills. The next few days are going to be busy and fun!

The view out our side window.

10 comments:

  1. Yes we love the time share presentations as well, a couple hours of your time can be profitable and fun as long as you keep saying no.

    Looks like you have a nice spot to park for a few days, enjoy!

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  2. Oh man, that was good for a laugh. You guys kill me!
    I can just just picture you two the whole time you're in the store saying, "Oh ya, we're gonna get some free stuff!"
    But cash? That's not too shabby!

    So now, does that $156 go the "credit" side of the expenses for the month? Just wonderin'.
    Of course, I realise you don't exactly divulge your "income", only expenses, but still...

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  3. I did the timeshare hussle a few times back in the 1990's and they never offered up $156!!
    Good on ya

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  4. We have never been offered any money to listen just meals or gift cards. WOW...what a deal!
    Love your new spot. So private!

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  5. can't beat a cash deal and a free meal for just saying no...

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  6. We went to a few of those timeshare seminars and only ended up with breakfast and a camera that broke right after we got home.
    You are so fortunate to land one that gives you money!
    2 hours, good deal for sure!
    (and tax free!)

    Cheers!

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  7. Sounds like my idea of owning an rv park. Just offering rvers a place to hang out! Sounds like fun.

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  8. we worked time share a few years back...setting appts for people to attend time share presentations...you two were very lucky...we stopped because they were ripping people off..with gift certificates (breakage certs we used to call them because due to the conditions etc you would end up throwing them in file G for garbage)....or certs that would never be honored..holiday offers for a 3 day two night stay but you had to pay to get there and there was always black out dates...pay deposits which were suppose to be returned to you but never would be (sort of like a damage depoist) yadda yadda..just be extremely careful about accepting and attending until you know for 'sure' theres no catch to the gift...
    have a blast guys...

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  9. George and Suzie...We have no problem saying no. We really are liking it here at the ranch.

    Bob...We knew before we started the shopping that we were going to get some money but when we finished and the guy approched us again, he offered us even more, how could we refuse? It does end up on the credit side of course but our budget is to show how much we spend each month so people can see that you can have fun and live cheaply.

    Kenny and Angela...That's what we thought too!

    CAE...This one was our best one yet. The ones back in Canada are totally different.

    Full-Timers...The timeshares here are so totally different than any in the States or Canada. We have been offered money before but not like this.

    heyduke50...Gotta love it!

    WBY...Yep, this one was a good one.

    Chris...We love it here. If you are in the area make sure you stop in here.

    Elaine and Rick...The timeshare deals and gifts are totally different from the ones back in Canada. We have never been refused a gift and there's no catch like the ones in Canada. We never did any there, as you say they are just a scam and end up costing you.

    Kevin and Ruth

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